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Tuesday, 10 July 2012

I am such a smart one, aren't I? Edmonton is having a massive heat wave, with temperatures in the mid thirties all week, and I decide that one of the hottest days of the decades is the day I need to photograph my delicious, but incredibly fragile and melty, limoncello creamsicles. Oh, clever me!! Or, better still, what a idiot idea that turned out to be. I got about 2 photos before those creamsicles started turning into a puddle of cream (oh, the cream was pretty delicious) and it was a frantic chuck-them-in-the-freezer... omigosh what am I going to do... CAT! KID! stay away from those, those are alcoholic, they are, oh, misery, what am I to do??

All this drama... while the answer was blindingly obvious, of course. Eat the damn things and sod the pictures :) Oh, and when you're at it, drink all the limoncello as well, you'll need it!

That said, can you think of a more perfect way to beat the heat? Fresh, tangy citrus teamed up with a delicate liqueur, all in a delicious creamy popsicle? Thought not. The idea for these creamsicles came from David Lebovitz's book. I've been addicted to his lemon ice cream for years now, but I also wanted to change things up a bit, as some aspects of it weren't quite working for me. The ice cream kept turning slightly powdery (delicious, nonetheless) and obviously some ingredients just weren't the same here. So I worked and reworked it several times, before coming up with this version, which, to be honest, is pretty close to perfect. The alcohol keeps the creamsicles smooth and creamy, while dissolving the sugar and lemon juice prior to blending in the half and half got rid of the powderiness. And of course, you can always freeze this in an ice cream machine, like I did, and serve with a sprinkling of lemon zest and a splash of limoncello.And how did I stop them melting enough to take some pictures? Well, I cut out some paper towels in the shape of these popsicles, and placed the creamsicles gently over top of them. Solved part of the melting problem, but these pics were still taken in under five minutes :) Sometimes, photography has to take a backseat to more practical considerations like, how do you keep these treats away from sneaky li'l hands? That, I haven't yet figured out!!

I love hearing back from my friends and readers. Please let me know how you liked this post, and if you would consider making this recipe, or have already made it. Please take a moment to post pictures on my Facebook page, if you do happen to take a couple :)

Please note, that due to the enormous amount of spam comments I've been getting, I am re-enabling comment moderation. Your comment will be visible on approval. Apologies in advance.